Don’t Be Holy! - Chapter 203

“I…….”

Eir swallowed her words and retreated with a troubled expression. Rubel closed the distance she created and took her hand.

“If this is about guilt toward that witch, we can release her afterward. How does that sound?”

“And what about you?”

“I’ll simply accept any disciplinary action. Truthfully, we’ve already extracted all necessary information from her. We can let her go after ensuring she’ll never use witchcraft again.”

“Give me more time to think.”

Rubel studied her face intently as she stepped back. Though she asked for time, her heart seemed to already be racing in the opposite direction.

The more he revealed his true feelings, the more Eir recoiled. Even when he acted all-accepting, she only grew more distant, questioning how he could be this way.

“Ah…….”

Eir suddenly let out a quiet moan. Rubel stared blankly at his own unconsciously tightened grip before belatedly releasing her hand.

Though brief, red marks already stained Eir’s delicate skin.

This fragile, fragile woman.

Honestly, if he wanted to force his will, there was no easier target. Exceptionally weak, devoid of any influence, even a criminal.

As dark thoughts swirled through Rubel’s mind, he exhaled and banished them all. Then he buried his face in her shoulder and whispered:

“Is it because I’ve always done as I pleased until now?”

“What do you mean?”

Eir asked awkwardly.

His energy had turned frightening, making her spine tingle unconsciously, but in an instant it all dissipated. Leaning against her, Rubel seemed more vulnerable than ever.

Unable to comprehend this unpredictable behavior, Eir didn’t know how to respond.

“Looking back, bringing you here, becoming intimate with you—it all happened according to my will. I keep forgetting you’re not a god who’ll simply accept whatever I do. I’m sorry.”

At this, she inhaled sharply. Eir quickly shook her head.

“That’s not true. It wasn’t just your will. I also wanted you……”

“…….”

“I wanted you too. No—I want you now.”

“Truly?”

Rubel questioned her difficult confession. Eir nodded.

“Yes.”

“Then why do you push me away the further I fall? I’ve never been ‘Holy Knight Rubel Shinote’ when with you, yet you look at me with disgust whenever I stray from that image. If I cease being a holy knight, you’d abandon me immediately.”

Eir fell silent before his wounded eyes, stunned that her actions could be interpreted this way. She’d only been worried for him.

When she regained her senses, he had already withdrawn. His calm expression suggested he’d never leaned on her at all.

“Take your time to think. Though realistically, it won’t be very long.”

“Rubel…….”

Eir opened her mouth to explain herself, but after giving her an unreadable look, he turned away without waiting for her response.

Left alone, Eir watched his retreating back, sighed, and covered her face.

She couldn’t discern what was right.

Rubel’s path was clearly wrong—privately exploiting a prisoner, all to conceal Eir’s identity.

Yet Eir wasn’t in any position to preach about righteousness. He was doing this for her sake, and wasn’t she the one who’d fled the Divine Empire’s unreasonable persecution?

If anyone could understand Rubel’s heart, it was Eir.

‘Then why does my chest feel so tight?’

Eir sighed deeply.

Wanting Rubel to stay on the righteous path while she herself had strayed so far only proved his point—that she didn’t love him enough.

That she’d boxed him into a role and would discard him if he stepped outside. Yet agreeing to his plan felt like embracing an unhealthy path where they’d both be ruined.

“Let me think a little longer.”

Eir muttered to herself and thumped her constricted chest.

***

Meanwhile, Chrome awoke with a foreboding feeling.

Having feared Freidis, his mother, since childhood, he could vaguely sense her presence.

Now he felt Freidis was nearby. And if he had to guess where…….

“The Central Temple?”

Chrome, having transformed from a small rabbit back to human form, spoke with unease.

But it seemed impossible, so he shook his head.

When last seen, Freidis and other Alphadem witches were injured by Eir’s divine power. Chrome had witnessed this himself—there was no doubt.

Given how exhausted he was after using the last dregs of his magic to get here, it made no sense for the injured witches to arrive so quickly.

Then what explained this ominous premonition?

Moreover, Freidis’s presence at the Central Temple?

This was even more…….

“Damn it.”

Chrome roughly tousled his hair and bowed his head.

After brief deliberation, he transformed into a crow to gather information. He learned that Albarm’s surprise attack had caused chaos at the border, forcing the Proxy to temporarily leave the Central Temple.

However, most agreed there was no concern with knights like Rubel Shinote guarding the temple. Chrome infiltrated deeper but found no rumors of an attack.

‘But Freidis is definitely there.’

The faint presence he’d initially sensed was growing stronger. If Freidis had infiltrated the Central Temple, her target was obvious.

“Eir’s in danger.”

Chrome muttered.

Freidis was intensely vengeful. No priest had ever wounded her before, yet in their own territory, she and numerous witches had been bested by Eir alone. Her pride must have been shattered.

Having also lost the divine artifact stolen with such effort, her thirst for revenge would be unimaginable.

Chrome immediately prepared to infiltrate the temple.

For unknown reasons, with the Proxy absent and Freidis spreading darkness within, this seemed the only opportunity.

Using his skills, Chrome befriended a merchant supplying the temple, then requested entry to pray. Though hesitant, the merchant eventually agreed, moved by Chrome’s fabricated sob story about his blind mother—unaware Chrome had tailored it using the merchant’s own past.

Thus, two days later, Chrome crossed the temple bridge wearing a deep hood.

With the Proxy gone, the first guarded gate had been left open—allowing passage.

Before departing, the merchant spoke privately with a guarding knight:

“This poor soul has suffered greatly. Might he offer a brief prayer?”

“No visitors are being received. You know this.”

“Harold has supplied food here for over a decade. This is my only request.”

The knight studied the merchant before nodding and admitting Chrome.

The moment Chrome crossed the threshold leaning on his cane, his hands turned white. Despite emptying himself of darkness, the temple’s overwhelming holy energy pressed down painfully on his body.